Shishuki remained unfazed by her actions, her eyes calmly following Aeni.
"However…" Shishuki lifted her index finger.
As soon as the word 'However' reached Aeni's ears, she froze in place, as if Shishuki had locked her position.
"What's the cost ?" Aeni asked, her voice quiet, ready to sacrifice anything.
"You need to stay with Akarum and spy on him," Shishuki said, her gaze intense.
"But… I was told to stay with Karumi." Aeni's confusion was clear.
"I don't care about that. The Lord told me about Akarum. Now… let me tell you his location." Shishuki leaned against the wall.
Aeni nodded.
"He's at Heavenly Kaatoumo with Kashime, Flint, and Asami." Shishuki didn't blink.
"Then how am I supposed to live with him?" Aeni asked.
"I don't know about that. Your job is to spy on him," Shishuki said, barely breaking her composure.
"My… mother. When will I meet her?" Aeni's chest tightened, her expression turning tearful.
Shishuki lowered her head and remained silent for a few seconds.
The silence consumed Aeni, almost painfully.
"After a few days." Shishuki turned to leave.
Aeni stood there, her mind flooded with images of her mother. How would she look ? Would she still Love me? What would I say about Dery… that he died?
Shishuki didn't turn back. She vanished into thin air.
"Mother." The word escaped Aeni's lips, filled with longing as tears welled in her eyes.
"Everything was worth it," she added.
"I will… meet her again."
The moment had arrived.
The moment she had been waiting for.
The moment she had faced torture for.
The moment she had wanted since she was a child, holding fetus Dery in her hands while her parents stood at the verge of death.
She wiped her tears. Her heart raced. Her veins throbbed violently.
"Even the hut feels like a cage now," she said, her voice heavy with sorrow.
Akarum sat on a chair pushed against the wall of Heavenly Kaatoumo in the courtyard, its front legs hanging in mid-air.
Everything feels so intense. Let me try normalizing.
He looked at Kashime, who was circling the courtyard, lost in thoughts.
"Yo! Finger." A smug smile appeared on his face.
Kashime didn't listen. She kept moving.
"Kashime. I'm talking to you!" he said.
Kashime stopped mid-step.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"You're Finger, right?" He pointed at her, his smug expression unwavering.
"What?! Are you intentionally trying to piss me off?" she protested.
"So you are hot-headed." He shook his head as if pitying her. "So sad."
He stuck his tongue out.
"You are pissing me off. Stop that." She pointed at him, then stopped, realizing she was proving his point.
"See? You just proved my point," he said.
"Of course not. You're having hallucinations." She folded her arms and turned her head away.
"Sure he is," Asami chuckled from near the doors.
"Uh, fine. You win." Kashime let her arms drop.
Flint came out from inside, wearing an apron and holding a whisk.
"Who… wants to… taste my food?" His voice was quiet, fragile, as if expecting rejection.
"Me!!" Akarum jumped out of his chair, raising his hand, the chair fell forward at her sudden motion.
Kashime and Asami laughed at his childish behavior.
"You're like Noyu," Asami said, her mind seeing Noyu in Akarum.
"Who's that?" Akarum turned toward her.
"He was… my younger son." Her expression fell.
Why does everyone like making me their child?
He felt irritated, but when he saw Asami's fallen face, the irritation vanished.
"Guess I am," Akarum said, smiling.
"Me too," Kashime added, turning toward Flint.
"Then how could I say no?" Asami said.
They headed inside together, their faces lit with happiness. The sadness faded, replaced by a warm sense of peace.
Somewhere else
Inside a house, a man sat on a chair, a paper placed on the table. He was writing something.
Suddenly, a portal opened near him, and a letter fell onto the table.
He lifted his gaze. A chimney stood before him.
He looked at the letter.
"I am ready," he said, his voice filled with loyalty.
He placed the letter back on the table. Another portal erupted and swallowed it.
He stood.
"I am… ready to take the blame," he said once again.
Elsewhere
A dark blue cat ran through the trees, its light blue eyes wide.The cat's pitch-dark pupils, slit with a sharp slash, made it look terrifying.
"There is no variables like good or evil," the cat spoke. A literal cat spoke.
"These are just labels given by humans to remove uncertainty, the thing those mere beings fear most."
The cat reached an open area and turned back.
"Bluesy."
From behind.
"I'm here." Bluesy lightly smacked her chest with both hands, her tails behind her back slightly swung, in back and forth motion.
"I like rain. It's not raining," Bluesy complained.
"Milk bottles," a woman said from a few steps away, her heart-shaped pupils shining, her pink hair matching her gray coat.
"Hahaha!" Bluesy laughed, spreading her arms. "Now I will execute my mad plan."
"You call that a mad plan?" the woman sighed, clearly unimpressed.
"Lavanya, listen. Perspective is the most important thing," the cat said.
"I know, Lyanna." Lavanya's heart-shaped eyes rested on the cat.
"I wanna change the weather," Bluesy interrupted. "I like rain."
"Fine." The cat stepped near Bluesy's legs. "But don't use a punch. Just a snap. We don't want the planet to vaporize like that black hole."
"Okay." Bluesy nodded.
"Meh, it wouldn't matter even if it did. There are almost infinite universes," Lavanya said.
"But… every life matters." Bluesy brought her hands near her chest. Even the thought of destroying a planet caused pain there. Behind Bluesy, her three blue tails flickered softly.
"Oh, fine. Do whatever you were about to do." Lavanya waved her palm in mid-air.
Bluesy adjusted her dark-blue scarf and.She lifted her hand and formed a snap. As her fingers brushed against each other, the air itself trembled from the sheer force she was generating.
Lavanya and the cat waited for the force to be released.